Karel Justinus Calewaert (17 October 1893 – 27 December 1963) was a Belgian Catholic

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Life

Early years

Calevaert was born in

Deinze Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Lei ...

, a small town a short distance to the southwest of

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

. His father, also named Justinus Calewaert, was a successful businessman, with premises in the Tolpoortstraat, who also ran a distillery. When

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

broke out in 1914 Calevaert went initially to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but he later returned to Belgium and served as a stretcher-bearer on the front line. He studied at St Hendrik's College in

and at the St Barbara College, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

school in

, before moving on to the

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...

Louvain Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of ...

. He was ordained into the priesthood on 23 April 1922.

Priest

On 4 February 1925 he took a post as professor of

Moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics" A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply satisfyin ...

at the "CIBE"CIBE = Centre d'Instruction de Base et d'Ecolage ( military academy) in

Leopoldsburg Leopoldsburg (; ; ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006, Leopoldsburg had a total population of 14,403. The total area is which gives a population density Population density (in agriculture: Stand ...

, becoming director at this institution in 1927. On 1 October 1931 he was appointed president of the Main Seminary at

, and in 1940 he became

Vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

for the diocese. In the context of the linguistic sensitivities of the time and place, the Ghent born composer observed that Calewaert appeared to come from the Francophone class (''"....les gens d'expression française"''), although since he came from Deinze he also spoke perfectly good Flemish (Dutch).

Bishop

On 28 January 1948 Calewaert was appointed 27th

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

in succession to Honoré Jozef Coppieters who had died the previous month. Calewaert, now aged 54, was installed on 8 March 1948. He took as his motto "Caritate veritatis" (''"From Love of Truth"''). On 17 April 1948 Oscar Joliet was appointed as Calewaert's

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

. In 1950 he dedicated the St Paul Seminary at Mariakerke in the chateau bequeathed by the aristocrat-politician , where seminarians could undertake the first two years of their training. On 16 May 1954 he dedicated the entire complex at . During the 1955 schools conflict he wrote, on 8 July 1955, a pastoral letter calling on the faithful to support free education through the "School and family" programme, in respect of which a commemorative plaque was produced in 1958. Also in 1955, on 19 December 1955, it fell to Caelwaert to dedicate the important Temse Bridge at Themse when it was opened by The King. Karel Justinus Calewaert died on 12 March 1963, a couple of months after his 70th birthday. His body was buried in the crypt of his cathedral,

St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent Saint Bavo's Cathedral, also known as Sint-Baafs Cathedral (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. The Gothic building is the seat of the Diocese of Ghent and is named for Saint Bavo of Ghent. It contains the well-known ''Ghent A ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calewaert, Karel Justinus 20th-century Belgian Roman Catholic theologians 1893 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Belgium Bishops appointed by Pope Pius XII

Life

Early years

Priest

Bishop

See also

References